The Price of Sacrifice
by eswigag
Summary: "Ruby was the last person Meg expected to betray her." Meg/Ruby femslash. Set S3.


**ATUHOR'S NOSE:** Okay, so this is the first story from my 2017 Femslash February contributions I'm cross-posting from Tumblr that I'm _actually_ editing the story itself, not just minor fixes in grammar and stuff. See, this was one of the few ones I'd actually sketched out beforehand, but I was crunched for time when writing it because I kept goofing off and only writing and posting each day's FF contribution like super late each night, and in my hurry I totally forgot I wanted it to end a certain way! And it felt OOC for Ruby and the ending fit better with the original decision and I wanted to fix it once I realized I'd done messed up, but someone had already seen it and I couldn't bear to change it around after I had confirmation someone had already seen it, ahhhh! So I'm fixing it here. #eswigagredemptionarc2K17

 **ATUHOR'S NOSE #2:** It was also supposed to have hot hatefucking sex, but I'm still too lazy to add it in and it's probably OOC too? For Ruby, at least? Meg is _totally_ down to clown.

 **ATUHOR'S NOSE #3:** Astaroth is the name of Ruby's demon teacher from "Malleus Maleficarum" in S3, fyi. The one who possessed Tammi from the witch coven. Apparently. It's in the S3 companion guide, but not directly stated, it's who the actress is listed as in the episode credits in the guide.

 **Warnings for:** language, blood.

* * *

"Come out, come out, traitor! There's no use hiding. Not when you know I'm going to _find_ you!" Meg called out, her lips split into a hateful smile as her men combed through the woods flanking the road. They would dig Ruby out of whatever hole she was hiding in. Sure, they would probably die to that pretty little knife Ruby'd found, but Meg wouldn't be shedding any tears over it. She had already lost most of her boys to that knife today. So long as the last two died doing their jobs and flushing Ruby out of hiding like a good bunch of bloodhounds, Meg would consider it a win.

She inhaled, trying to catch Ruby's scent herself and maybe pinpoint her location to pop in on her unawares. She paced slowly down the road, boot heels clacking loudly against asphalt. She hoped Ruby heard it. She hoped very much that Ruby was afraid. She deserved to be afraid.

Ruby was the last person Meg expected to betray her. She was the best of her father's soldiers; good, smart, and above all, _loyal_. Maybe that's where it went wrong.

After Father died, Meg was determined that they would follow her and not that little human freak Sam, but thanks to certain greedy, power-hungry _fuckheads_ , they hadn't and Meg hadn't been able to put the dissenters in line before Lilith stepped in.

Fine with Meg, so long as Lilith kept on her crusade to butcher the Winchesters. She was more of a follower than a leader, anyway. Leading would have taken her out of the frontlines and away from all the fun.

What _wasn't_ fine with Meg was that Ruby sided with _Sam_ against her the goddamn second they learned that Meg's father had been killed. She supported a _human_ to rule Hell's army over her own kind! Un- _fucking_ -believable. Except the more Meg thought - obsessed - over it, the more she admitted that she should have seen it coming. Ruby had always been a loyal little soldier. Meg just would've assumed that she would've shared some of that loyalty with the demon she'd once shared a bed. Not to the batshit, half-baked plan no one even knew.

Meg heard Sam hadn't even won the battle against _other humans_ , for fuck's sake. _That_ was what Ruby was willing to be branded as traitor for? _That_ was what she was protecting? Didn't she get the goddamn memo that Lilith was in charge now and Lilith hated Sam and Lilith was going to lock Ruby away to rot in Hell if she didn't knock it the fuck off? The power-struggle was over. The army was on the march. Ruby better come begging for Lilith's forgiveness before she did something Meg couldn't cover for anymore.

Like this protecting Sam bullshit. Lilith ordered his head on a platter. Meg would have been happy to deliver, if it weren't for Ruby ambushing them, cutting down one, two, three of Meg's lackeys before Meg came for her throat and she ran off like a coward.

But she didn't get far. And this time, she wasn't getting away.

Perfect timing. Dying shrieks came from Meg's left. She smirked and turned on heel. "Speak of the Devil. Hiya, Ruby."

Blood dripped. From Ruby's face. From the knife she held. She looked beautiful as ever when she was wearing blood. Meg bet she would look even better in her own.

"Your grunts are dead, princess," Ruby said. No trace of a grin. No trace of anything. From her eyes to her mouth to her voice, she was completely devoid of emotion. Meg had seen her like this, but she had never been on the other side of it. Never expected to. They were supposed to burn down the world together.

What a string of shitty surprises the Apocalypse kept giving out.

"My grunts?" Meg repeated. Stepped forward. Gravel crunched under her boots. Ruby didn't flinch. Didn't move her knife. "No, Ruby. Those were your friends. Your brothers in arms. And you killed them." She tsked. "That's not in the team spirit. I'm gonna have to punish you for that."

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but we're not on the same side anymore."

Meg smiled hard, tilting her head to cast Ruby an incredulous look. "The hell we aren't. What sides would we be on, huh? Maybe you didn't notice. The old boss is dead. We got a new boss now. And it sure as hell isn't Sam Winchester."

Ruby stayed silent. Bad sign. Or maybe a good sign. Ruby was most devious when she talked.

"C'mon, Ruby." Meg stepped closer. "I get it. You were trying to follow the old man's plan. No one's gonna blame you for that." Not after Meg made it clear to everyone that they weren't, at least. She sharpened her tone, hoping it would bring the soldier out snapping to obedience in her friend. "But that plan's _done_. Lilith's got a new plan, and Sam's not in it. You're wasting your time and if you keep it up, you're going to spend eternity as a chew-toy for her dogs. So how about, you take that knife, you come with me, and we make nice with the new regime by cutting out the Winchesters's hearts while they're asleep?"

Ruby just. Looked at her. For the longest second, Meg hoped. But Ruby had to ruin it. "Don't make me kill you," she said, that bitch dared to say to her, as if she had what it fucking took to kill Meg.

(As if Meg could've ever killed her. She'd _hurt_ her, oh yes. For what she put Meg through, oh yes. She'd hurt her until Ruby fucking _obeyed_ and stopping fighting for a lost cause like a stupid, senseless little soldier. She would gladly tear her apart with every dirty trick Alastair taught her, if pain was the only thing that could get through Ruby's thick fucking head.)

"I already killed Astaroth," Ruby said, and Meg froze. "I'll kill you too if you don't turn and run. Right. Now."

And Meg grinned horribly. "Why don't you fucking _try_ , baby," Meg crooned, daring her right back. And Meg advanced on her. And Meg wrung every last bit of pleasure she could out of seeing Ruby's jaw clench.

"I told you to _run_!" Ruby snarled, holding the knife out like a cross to warn her off. Meg laughed, delirious with the power Ruby's little slip-up of emotions gave her, knowing in her bones that she was right. She was going to knock that knife right out of Ruby's hands, slash her up and make her listen.

The anger drained out of Ruby's face, leaving it cold and blank. Meg saw it immediately.

That was the only thing that saved her.

She ran, from her own subordinate, her own _friend_.

Her friend who had just thrown a knife at Meg's heart with deadly calculated accuracy, her eyes unfeeling.

Just like Tom had shot her with, for all he knew, the Colt. Her own brother.

Just like how Father had left her to rot in Hell and keep playing games with his precious favorite, _Sammy_.

Meg laughed with the bitter taste of betrayal filling her mouth like blood. Because she knew, too. They both did now, didn't they?

"I'm not stopping, Ruby!" she sang out, knowing Ruby could hear her. "I'm _never_ going to stop! I'm going to kill your precious Winchesters, and I'm going to make you sorry you didn't listen to me! _Keep on running, baby, I'm coming after you!"_

And Meg laughed and laughed and laughed. What a sick fucking joke this all was. What happened to the days when Father was alive and Tom was alive and Ruby was at her side, when everything seemed so clear and right? Why was it all going so wrong when victory was so close? Would it even be a victory, with her family murdered by the Winchesters and Ruby now her enemy?

Meg's laughter devolved into snarls and she gave chase. The Winchesters. They had taken her family. And now they'd taken Ruby from her.

Meg didn't care if she died. She vowed that she would kill the Winchesters. Maybe once they were dead, whatever freak curse they carried with them would die too and Ruby would come back to her senses, come back to Meg.

She had to.


End file.
